Sartell man has been counting down the days to the SCSU hockey opener ... with jerseys

St. Cloud State men's and women's hockey coaches and athletes are the focus of this week's chat.
Saint Cloud Times

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Heath Warnert, Sartell, shows the final hockey jersey Wednesday, Oct. 3, that will be his number one post as he counts down the days until the start of the SCSU men's hockey season. Warnert is using jerseys from his massive collection to post each day on Twitter.(Photo11: Jason Wachter, jwachter@stcloudtimes.com)Buy Photo

SARTELL — Something that has become fashionable in recent years on social media is doing a countdown for a sports team's opening night.

Many of the pro and college teams have taken to using photos of current and former players, and use a photo of the player with their number on it as part of the countdown.

A lot of fans do similar countdowns with the days, but few can do a countdown the way that St. Cloud State men's hockey fan Heath Warnert can. Warnert, who has two season tickets to the Huskies' games, has 205 hockey jerseys, most of which are game-worn.

Oh, and they are also game-worn jerseys of Huskies from their playing days at St. Cloud State and in the pros.

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Heath Warnert, Sartell, shows an old St. Cloud State University hockey jerseys Wednesday, Oct. 3, that he acquired for his collection.(Photo11: Jason Wachter, jwachter@stcloudtimes.com)

"Originally, I had a couple of jerseys that were not game-worn," Warnert said of his collection, which gained momentum 13 years ago. "I saw a jersey at Scheels and I bought it.

"I got my first one from (former SCSU player) Matt Gens for our wedding gift and it kind of started there. I started realizing that I could buy a jersey at a retail store for $100, but then I starting noticing in the game worn community that I could buy a game-worn jersey for $100. It was kind of a no-brainer."

Warnert and his wife, Sarah, have a connection to Gens, who grew up in Baudette. Sarah also grew up in Baudette and Sarah is a friend of Gens' sister.

"Then I got to know (Gens') older brother and hung out with him a lot and he was in our wedding," said Warnert, a 45-year-old St. Cloud Tech High School graduate who is a union sheet metal worker.

Gens played for St. Cloud State from 2001-05 and went on to play pro hockey in North America for seven seasons. Yes, Warnert has several of Gens' jerseys from the teams Gens played for professionally.

'Out of hand'

When Warnert started buying game-worn jerseys, he was buying those of a number of pro players besides former Huskies. It got to the point where he had to prioritize.

"My collection started getting out of hand," said Warnert, who has 65 St. Cloud State jerseys. "I had to cut it down to St. Cloud State (players) or alumni and then my one (pro) vice is Keith Ballard jerseys. He's a friend of the family. His dad and my father-in-law were best friends growing up in Baudette."

Ballard played for — gasp — the University of Minnesota from 2001-04. He played defense for the Phoenix Coyotes, Florida Panthers, Vancouver Canucks and Minnesota Wild in the NHL from 2005-15. Warnert said he owns 20 jerseys of Ballard.

The former St. Cloud State player he owns the most game-worn jerseys of is defenseman Jeff Finger, who played for the Huskies from 2000-03 and then played pro hockey until 2012.

"For whatever reason, his game-worn jerseys were with teams where they were more attainable," Warnert said.

"He was everybody's favorite when he was here," Warnert said of the former Huskies alternate captain.

A visit to Warnert's house helps you understand why he needed to narrow the focus of his collection. The more than 200 jerseys he has are on two clothing racks that run the length of an entire bedroom ... and there's some overflow.

Countdown challenges

And it has grown to the point where he was able to start a countdown to the season on his Twitter account (@tinnerheath) on Aug. 23 to St. Cloud State men's hockey exhibition game against Mount Royal University (Alberta) at 5 p.m. Sunday at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center.

He began the countdown with former St. Cloud State goalie Rasmus Reijola's No. 45.

Since he began the countdown, he's only had to patch a few numbers together. For instance, for No. 43, he put former Huskies captain Ben Storm's No. 4 with former Huskies defenseman Sam Zabkowicz's No. 3 to make the number.

But on other days, there have been multiple players. For example, 42 days out from the opener, he posted a photo of game-worn pro jerseys of former Huskies defenseman Matt Stephenson (2004-08), former forward Mark Hartigan (1999-2002) and former captain Ethan Prow (2012-16).

Warnert typically tags the Twitter accounts of the former Huskies and he has enjoyed reading the tweets of former players during the countdown.

"Some of them get a kick out of it and seeing where their stuff goes," he said.

His favorite St. Cloud State jersey is a white home jersey from Gens' career.

"These were very nice jerseys and this one is absolutely destroyed," he said, pointing out a number of black puck marks on the jersey. "That's a skate (cut) running right up the middle. This is the true, what a game-worn jersey, should look like.

"Nowadays, pros are wearing four or five (different style) home jerseys a year and four-five away jerseys, so there's just not any wear on the jerseys anymore."

Besides the pro and college jerseys of Huskies, Warnert also owns the jerseys of St. Cloud State players who have played for their respective national teams in international tournaments. For instance, he has a Ryan Poehling Team USA jersey from last season's IIHF World Junior Championships that was played in Buffalo, New York.

Warnert said he makes some of the Huskies' road trips, including some playoff games. Last season, he said he went and saw St. Cloud State play in Mankato, Duluth and Grand Forks, North Dakota.

While he is a fan, he does not let losses get him too far down emotionally.

"I don't take it personally if they lose if they're out there giving their true effort," he said. "Anybody can have a bad game and I would never bad-mouth a player."

New favorite

Warnert played recreational hockey growing up, but did not play for his high school. Despite that, he's clearly in love with the game now.

So what is the hockey offseason like for Warnert?

"I sit here and wait and wait ..." he said. "But there's always hockey going on in St. Cloud. I'll go watch a high school game or an elite game going on at a rink around here. I'll go to summer league games when it gets too hot out."

Warnert has been a St. Cloud State fan for a number of years and Sarah used to go with him to games. But several years ago their daughter, Lily, 11, went with Heath to a game and got hooked.

"That seat became Lily's seat," Warnert said. "When they ask her what she likes to do in school, she says, 'Collect jerseys with my dad.'"

He said that Lily's favorite jersey is Storm's No. 4 because her set number at the arena is No. 4. But while Lily is a St. Cloud State fan, she's not a hockey player. She is involved in dance.

Her younger sister Daisy, 5, though, is in her second year of hockey.

And while Warnert enjoys his jersey collection and has no intention of stopping, he said he has a favorite.

"Daisy just played in a 3-on-3 league where they played seven games. That's my favorite jersey," he said.

Follow Mick Hatten on Twitter, Instagram @MickHatten and at Facebook.com/sctimesmick. Reach him by phone at 259-3621, by email at mhatten@stcloudtimes.com.